Nevada County man accused of molesting girls held to answer on 10 counts

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Family and friends of three girls who allegedly were molested expressed relief in court Thursday after a judge found sufficient evidence to hold the suspect to answer to 10 of 13 charged counts.

Robert Lewis Taylor, 50, had been charged with multiple counts of molesting the three women, one of whom said she was 11 at the time — one count of continuous sexual abuse, four counts of lewd acts on a child, one count of dissuading a witness, one count of sexual battery by restraint and six counts of child molestation.

E.H., the first alleged victim to come forward, is deaf and developmentally disabled, according to court testimony. Taylor was her mother’s boyfriend at the time of the alleged incidents. The girl, who now is 20, said the molestation started when she was 15 or 16, and had gone on until 2013.

Taylor’s niece, J.L., reported two incidents, one when she was 13 years old and one when she was about 15.

The third alleged victim, H.G., came forward in February of this year, and said her mother had dated Taylor for about two years.

H.G. reportedly told an investigator that Taylor had contacted her in February of this year and asked her to come over, which she did.

Taylor told her that there was “bad blood” between him and E.H.’s mother and to ignore her if she tried to reach out to her.

Nevada County Superior Court Judge Tom Anderson conducted a preliminary hearing into the evidence against Taylor on Aug. 7, but took the matter under submission.

He then postponed his decision an additional week in order to finish reading the hearing transcript.

Anderson held Taylor to answer on all charges except one count of dissuading a witness, and two of the counts of child molestation; he did find evidence on charges involving all three alleged victims.

Taylor’s attorney, Stephen Munkelt, asked for a reduction of his bail from $200,000 to $50,000, a request that was denied.

Munkelt also requested that Taylor’s passport be released, but was told he needed to file a motion that could be heard at Taylor’s next court date, his formal arraignment on Sept. 26.